Groop Hug

Groop tonight was very filled with advice. For example, Rotta has this advice to Ben on dating a married woman: "She's going to suck you in and spit you out like a ... like a vacuum cleaner ... in a power outage." Fortunately, her story, which was the subject of critique, was gentler on its metaphors.

In the context of the critique, we learned that a flasher is what you call a man who takes his clothes off in public. A woman who takes her clothes off in public is called a stripper.

We also learned that these things are good: figs, Italian coffee with a cube of sugar, and Rotta's novel, which everyone agreed is improving as a result of the ministrations of groop.

Now, about Nick. First of all, the police force in Alameda should be roundly slapped for being rude to the parents and children on the street outside Books, Inc. at midnight on the night that Harry Potter went on sale. Crowds of readers should be accommodated and cherished.

More Nick: So, you're sitting in a bar and you've had a bad day and someone has put MacArthur Park on the jukebox and then Deitz and Rotta walk in and you're thinking... (no, you just can't quite capture the moment--the way Nick rocks his hand against the table and his voice rises a couple octaves and he gets that look, that preacher Nick look...you know the one I mean...)

Even More Nick: "Six years after groop formed, my mother asked me where it was that we rode when I met with my riding group."

Ride on.